


Thanks For That

by thegingerirritant



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: But they don't know that they're in love yet, Dinner, Embarrassment, F/M, Guy Liner, M/M, Mentions of Masturbation, Nerds in Love, Professor Ben Solo, Short & Sweet, Thanksgiving, This one-shot turned into something a little bit bigger, baby photos, ben was a chubby baby, can you blame her, holiday celebration, monopoly, prompt, publishing, rey jills off to the thoughts of professor solo, reylo prompts, wholesome family gathering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:01:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22425988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegingerirritant/pseuds/thegingerirritant
Summary: Rey is invited to her boss's house for Thanksgiving with all of her coworkers.She's a little surprised to see her old, sexy professor show up, let alone find out he's her boss's son. And, oh boy, does her boss have some fantastic photos to show Rey.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 12
Kudos: 178





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt fill for a Reylo Prompts: "Leia shows Rey Ben's teenage photos and now she'll never be over his guyliner."  
> https://twitter.com/reylo_prompts/status/1220832649570160640
> 
> I thought I'd put a Professor Solo twist on it for the hell of it ;-)
> 
> I was planning on this being a one-shot, but... backstory happened. I'm hoping I'm sticking to two, but... you never know.

Her boss was relentless with the holiday invitations. Rey had never celebrated Thanksgiving before, and she wasn’t that keen on invading someone else’s space in order to celebrate a holiday of gluttony, even if stuffing her face with as much food as she could handle was usually right up Rey’s alley. 

It wasn’t until Poe was leaning against one of the walls of her cubicle, begging her to join the party. 

“It really isn’t a family gathering in the traditional sense, if you think you’d be imposing,” he explained. “I’ll be there, Paige usually brings her little sister, Finn is coming with me, and it’s really more of a company holiday party.”

Rey gave him a confused look. “I thought the holiday party was the week before Christmas?”

“There are  _ many _ holiday parties when you work for Leia Organa,” Poe said in a most serious tone. “You were hired right after the Labor Day Soiree.”

“Alright,” she huffed holding her hands up in surrender as she paused her furious typing. “I’ll go if it really means that much to you and Leia.”

Poe smirked and told her he would pick her up at 8 AM the next day. He disappeared before she could protest that she wouldn’t be able to sleep in on her day off. 

And that’s how Rey found herself in the backseat of Poe’s mustang, sliding in beside Kaydel, who worked in marketing. Once she had her seatbelt buckled, Rey realized she was overdressed compared to her coworkers. Poe and Finn, Poe’s boyfriend, donned simple jeans and sweaters, Poe’s being half unzipped to show a basic white t-shirt underneath. Kaydel had taken it even a step-down, wearing faded yoga pants and a chunky sweater that looked incredibly comfortable, but didn’t do too much for her figure yet still insight jealousy from her coworker. Rey, however, wore a dress that would have been deemed church appropriate with black tights- certainly a degree more dressy than she normally wore to work. 

“Alright,” Poe announced cheerily, pulling away from the curb outside of Rey’s apartment building. “Now that we’re all on the bus-”

“Car!” Kaydel groaned. 

“-we are on coffee and donut duty, so we are making a stop at Alderaan Bakery. Leia already called in the order and we just need to pick up the goods.”

“So, Rey,” Kaydel changed the subject away from whatever Poe was overly cheery about at 8 in the freaking morning. “Who are you avoiding by attending today’s festivities at the Organa Manor?”

“Noone,” Rey shrugged. “I’ve never celebrated Thanksgiving before. I just enjoyed an extra long weekend in college with a bunch of junk food and spent my time getting ahead on final papers.”

Kaydel nodded, understanding her mistake now being used to Rey’s accent, her topknot so tight that none of her hair moved as she did. “That makes sense, but you’ve totally missed out on the amazing food.”

The conversation abruptly ended there as they pulled into the small bakery’s parking lot. “Everyone out! We need all hands on deck!” 

Six carafes of coffee and four dozen donuts later, Rey and Kaydel found themselves underneath the boxes in the backseat while Finn tried to keep the coffee upright. 

“Tell me again why some of this couldn’t have gone in the trunk?” Finn huffed as his thigh began to burn under the cardboard. 

“I don’t want my entire car smelling of coffee in the event of a spill,” Poe shrugged before taking a bite out of a donut he stole out of one of the boxes. 

The rest of the ride took about fifteen minutes. They pulled into an already crowded driveway that resembled more of a small-business parking lot (it even had parking spaces?!) and attempted to pile out with minimal spillage. Rey managed to get a few sprinkles on her skirt while Finn swore as a dribble of decaf spilled onto his crotch as Poe grabbed a carafe from his lap. 

“Han! Chewie! They’re here!” came a yell from the front door of the giant brick house. Rey recognized it as Leia’s. “Come and help them with breakfast!”

Rey felt the boxes be lifted out of her arms by someone she couldn’t see. “Easy there,” grumbled a gravelly voice, “I got it.” 

“Thank you, you don’t have to,” she quickly breathed, surprised by the help. 

“Oh, I did,” it replied. “Or else I’d be sleeping on the couch for the next month.” Rey snorted lightly at that- typical Leia. “Come on in, kid, they’re all waiting for all four of you.”

She scooted ahead of him and the four men who carried the food and drink in, following Kaydel who made a quick entrance into the house. Leia greeted them all at the door, wearing similar garb to Rey, thank goodness, giving both girls a kiss on the cheek as she ushered them into the house. “Thank goodness you’re all here now. The boys are starving,” Leia laughed. “We’re just waiting on one more,” she announced to everyone as they piled into the foyer, “but he won’t be here until closer to dinner time.”

“Ol’ Benny wanting to keep his stay as short as possible?” Poe piped up. 

Leia rolled her eyes, “No, he had class late last night and couldn’t drive up until this morning.”

“Yeah, sure,” Poe snickered. “What time are we to expect Mr. Tall, Dark, and Brooding?”

“In a couple of hours,” Leia sighed, shooing them further into the house. She led Rey into a big room with a very large flat-screen TV that played the Macy’s Day Parade. “Everyone!” The room full of about ten or more people stopped what they were doing to look at the matriarch. “We have a new face at the table this year. Many of you know her already as you work with her. But to those who don’t, this is Rey Jackson. She’s our newest member of the Resistance Publishing Family and truly one of the most gifted scouts we’ve had. I don’t know where she’s found the latest author she acquired, but it’s been an amazing run with them and their first book.” Leia took a pause to breathe. “Anyways, this is Rey and you all better make her feel welcome and breakfast donuts and coffee are ready in the dining room.” The older woman bustled off towards where Rey imagined the kitchen would be. 

Most of the room stood up and filed out to make sure they nabbed their favorite kind of pastry. Rey recognized a couple of them; Amylin Holdo, a Senior Editor at the firm, and Jessika Pava, junior editor, like Poe. 

“Hi, Rey,” a small Asian woman said, holding out her hand for a firm handshake. “I’m Rose Tico, this is my sister Paige,” she gestured to the slightly taller woman next to her with the glass of wine she held. Rey gladly said her hellos, happy to have a couple more people her own age. 

Poe and Kaydel were fun, but they both were about a decade older than Rey and tended to treat her like a little sister. Finn was the only person who had that right, to treat Rey like a little sister. He was her foster brother after all. While they both moved to the States for college, he attended a different school in the same city, met Poe at a bar, introduced him to Rey, and that’s how she found out about her dream job in a niche publishing house merely a month after graduating with her Master’s degree. 

The three women hop in line to get to the donuts across the hall from the living room, where a room just as large had a long table already set for dinner. A buffet table was permanently set up along the side of the room, covered in the donuts that were no longer in their boxes but places on fancy glass platters. 

“Tico!” Poe greeted both girls by the same name. “How’s that cushy new job at Hosnian Press suiting you?” he asked Rose as he hugged Paige first. 

Rose rolled her eyes and grabbed a donut with pink sprinkles to pair with her coffee. “It’s no Resistance, but it’s been good so far. 

Rey picked through and found a jelly-filled delight on the bottom of the pile before filling up a very large cup with steaming black liquid. Rey was feeling overwhelmed, especially considering she was still foggy-brained from being awake this early without having ingested caffeine. By now on any normal weekday, Rey would be on her third, maybe fourth, cup of joe. 

She followed the rest of the group back to the living room, following Poe to where Finn was sitting on the couch, intently watching a giant balloon Clifford the Big Red Dog and its handlers. Finn scooched over so that Rey could sit with him. 

Sat in a recliner next to the large L-shaped couch was an older man, about the same age as Leia, sipping from a china mug, the tag from his teabag dangling down by the handle. He looked like he was not entirely enjoying his time, but enduring nonetheless. He turned to look at the people who sat next to him. 

“Rey Jackson, eh?” the man piqued. “Leia hasn’t been able to stop raving about you since she hired you.” He chuckled as the young woman blushed. 

“Thank you…” she trailed off. 

“Luke Skywalker.” He held his hand out for her to shake. 

Rey did a double-take. “Wait- THE Luke Skywalker? Author of-?”

He nodded, amused. “I’m surprised Leia hasn’t mentioned me."

“Isn’t she friends with a lot of authors?” Rey asked stupidly. Poe snorted on the other side of Finn while Luke smiled wider. 

“Friends, yes. Twins with? Just one. I think.”

Rey instantly felt starstruck while Poe cut in, “Luke, did you get my notes on-”

“No shop talk, Dameron,” called the gravelly voice that relieved Rey of donuts earlier. “You know the rules.”

“Yeah, but you know Luke never responds to e-mails,” Poe complained. “It’s the first time I’ve had a chance to actually talk to him!”

“You have a phone, right?” the other older man questioned. Poe nodded. “Then dial his phone number. I don’t know why all you kids are so against actual phone calls.” He huffed again. 

“This is Han,” Luke jerked his thumb towards him. “Leia’s husband. Resident grouch.”

Rey held out her hand, “Hi.”

“She’s got you scouting, eh?” Han asked, continuing to stand next to Luke’s chair, ignoring his friend’s dig. 

“Yeah,” Rey nodded after taking a bite of sugared jelly goodness. “It’s actually a really fun job, even if it is a lot of aimless reading.”

“Have you scavenged the fanfiction websites?” Luke asked. “Most scouts just read through Amazon self-published books or listicles.” 

“That’s where I started, actually,” she smiled. “That’s where I found Mr. Wexley two months ago.”

Suddenly there was a commotion in the kitchen and Leia popped her head into the living room. “Han? Can I get some help with this bird? And one other person to help crumble the bread? How about you, Rey?” She disappeared before Rey could protest with her usual ‘I’ve burnt cereal’ excuse to stay out of the kitchen. Han ambled after his wife. 

“You should go, Reyrey,” Finn warned, using the pet name he came up with in childhood. “She doesn’t ask twice.” Poe and Luke agreed, so Rey rose slowly from her comfortable perch, sad to lose the heat of Finn’s leg against her thin tights. 

She wandered into the foyer to follow the scent of food. Having never been here, she could only guess where the kitchen was situated by the smells of onions and sage wafting from the swinging door. 

Before she could make it too far down the hallway, the front door opened, revealing a very tall, very dark, and slightly brooding man. He looked up at her in surprise before taking off his dark grey, wool peacoat.

“Miss Jackson,” he mumbled. “What are you doing here?”

“I… I, uh… I was invited?”

The man’s eyebrow quirked. 

“I… work for Leia,” she tried again. “What are you doing here, Professor Solo?”

“Leia is my mother.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Ben! You’re early!” Leia’s voice yelled from the doorway of the kitchen, swinging it violently in her wake as she approached Rey and her previous professor. She enveloped her taller-than-average son into a hug, making him bend over to embrace his tiny mother. “This is Rey Jackson, my newest literary scout.”

“We’ve met,” he mumbled as he smoothed out his sweater and black jeans. 

“Well, come into the kitchen,” she beckoned both of them. “The breakfast is in the dining room if you wanted to grab something real quick, Ben.”

“I already ate on my way in,” he mentioned. “I didn’t know how traffic would be, or if your ravenous circus would finish it all off.” 

Leia led the way into the kitchen, followed by Rey, and Ben taking up the caboose. Rey suddenly felt even more nervous than she had before. Not only was she spending the holiday with her boss, but now her Literary Criticism professor was here. It was something out of a nightmare. Even more so now that she had allowed herself to fantasize about him after she successfully passed his class last year. Rey could swear she felt him staring at her as if he knows what she did with her vibrator at three in the morning the night she got her grades back. 

She couldn’t help but want to run her fingers through that soft black hair and know what those lips felt like against her own. She hadn’t been picky about which set, to be perfectly honest. She found herself not being picky now as she thought about it again.

“Rey, the dried out bread needs to be crumbled into this bowl,” Leia said as she pointed to the baking sheets full of bread slices and handed her protege a large ceramic mixing bowl. It was heavier than it looked and Rey almost dropped it, only to be saved by Professor Solo. He held it while she secured it in her arms without a word. “Han, look who arrived earlier than planned!”

Han turned to his son and gave him a curt nod. “Hey, kid.”

“Hi, Dad,” Professor Solo mumbled. 

“How’d you manage to get here so early?”

Professor Solo shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep, so I drove in early.”

Leia frowned at her son. “You’re still having trouble sleeping?”

“Not all the time,” he brushed her off. “It’s fine.” He turned instead to Rey, who was busy trying to figure out how big of chunks she should crumble the bread into. “How did you land a job at Resistance, Miss Jackson.”

“‘Miss Jackson?’-” Leia cut in before Rey could answer. “Don’t go all formal professor on us now, Benjamin.”

“Old habits,” Ben smirked. “Sorry,  _ Rey _ . How did your resume come across my mother’s desk?”

It took Rey a moment longer than she would have liked to speak. “My foster brother is dating one of the junior editors and he told me about the opening.”

“You remember Finn? Poe’s beau?” Leia casually waved her off. “They grew up together in the system.”

Solo nodded, “You wrote a paper about that,” he connected aloud. “Comparing orphans in fantasy novels as a trope.”

“You remember that?” Rey was surprised. 

“It felt more personal than you were making it,” he explained as he poured himself a glass of whiskey. “Some of your points were half-finished.”

Han and Leia gave each other a look. “What are you talking about, Ben, dear?”

“Rey was my student last year,” he said as if it was completely normal to run into one’s old student while eating turkey and mashed potatoes at your parents’ house on the long weekend holiday when you thought you’d be student free. “One of the less idiotic ones, too.”

“That’s high praise coming from you, kid,” Han laughed, fishing the entrails out of the 25-pound turkey. 

“Ben, dear, can you pour me a glass of wine while you’re there?” Leia asked. She was currently mixing dough for rolls, her hands all sticky from kneading. “I would, but I don’t want to have to wash my hands again.”

“Rey?” Ben asked, looking up at her. “Would you like a glass?”

“Sure, but not wine,” she smiled meekly. “If the whiskey is up for grabs-”

“Of course, dear,” Leia smirked. “Ben, pour her some of your father’s good whiskey.”

Han grumbled, “Just don’t tell the others it’s the good stuff. Otherwise, Chewie and Lando will get all up in arms about it and finish it off before noon.” 

Ben grabbed a small tumbler for her and asked “Ice?"

"Yes, please."

He got to work on pouring her drink, choosing the right ice cubes and pouring the exact right amount. "You're crumbling the bread too much," he commented as he placed the glass on the table next to her. "Here," he took a piece of rye and started to rip chunks. "You have plenty of tiny pieces, but now you want to mix in a few bigger pieces, especially the more flavorful breads."

"I'm sorry," she apologized quietly. "I've never made this before."

Ben nodded. "Is this your first real Thanksgiving?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Only slightly,” he said, amused. “For one, you’re rather dressed up to just eat and watch football.” Rey blushed and rubbed her calves together. “And, two, you have no idea what you’re doing when it comes to the dressing.”

“Ben, can you add the sauteed onions and broth to that while it’s hot?” Leia asked, gesturing with her neck towards the five-burner stove. He swiftly walked over and grabbed the hot pan to pour into the bowl Rey was working over. “And then once you two are done with that, go and say hello to the rest of them. Your uncles are all here and Amylin. Jyn and Cassian are on a cruise, so they won’t be joining us, but everyone else is here.”

“Wonderful,” he commented, grumpily. The two of them continued to work in silence, Ben finishing off his drink right after they mixed the bread and broth and handed it off to Han to stuff the bird. He also filled Rey’s glass back up, even though she had only drunk a few sips. 

Rey quickly said thank you and moved to jog back to the living room, wanting to leave the awkward atmosphere of that kitchen. The two men in the room tensed when the other one spoke to him and replied with either snarky or short answers. Leia kept on trying to get conversations out of the entire room, Rey included, but only Rey really contributed, telling the room about her schooling and what she thought about Ben’s way of teaching- which she thought later that she found too much like a fangirl- and how she felt working for Leia. 

Rey finally saw her escape and took it as quickly as she could. Ben was left in her dust, turning around after pouring his drink and she had disappeared, leaving the door swinging in her wake. 

She found her spot next to Finn had been taken by Rose as they both paid attention to the parade while it still played- a vision of Santa wielding his whip cutting off to show the last marching band makes their way downtown. But, there was a spot between Poe and Amylin. She could handle that. 

“Hey, Rey,” Poe smiled as she made her way over. “How’s-” he cut himself off as he saw who entered the room next. “Hey, Ben, your mom said you wouldn’t be here for a couple of hours.”

Rey turned to glance at him before smoothing out her skirt and plop herself down next to her coworkers. 

Professor Solo (or was it okay to call him Ben now?) shrugged. “Thought I’d avoid the guilt trip of not spending time with all of you lovely people.”

“Aww, Benny, we love you, too,” a big, burly man crooned, ruffling the shorter, oddly enough, man’s hair and messing it up. 

Ben waved him off, “Cut it out, Chewie.” Everyone else in the room either snickered or snorted. He sipped hard at his whiskey again, draining it a little more than halfway. 

“Well, it’s good to see you, kid,” Luke smirked. “How’s teaching going?”

“It’s fine. I have quite the spirited group this time around,” Ben sighed. “But they’ll break. They always do.” He chuckles darkly. Rey snorted, thinking that indeed, he was right. Even she broke under the intensity that was his class. Ben tried very hard to not smirk at her reaction and she could see the corners of his mouth turn up very slightly. 

Han and Leia entered the room behind their son. Leia took to standing next to her giant son while Han moved to the other recliner on the other side of the couch from Luke’s chair. “Alright, dinner is in the oven,” Leia announced, clapping her hands together. “Why isn’t the game on?” she asked, taking note of the TV where a news show was now playing rather than the parade. 

“Because no one in this house is a football fan?” Ben deadpanned. 

“We are on two days each year,” Leia said, putting her hands on her hips. “Thanksgiving and the Superbowl.” Ben rolled his eyes at his mother. “Han, change the channel,” she ordered before bustling back towards the kitchen.

Her husband reached for the remote that was set on the coffee table in front of the couch, obeying his wife. “I guess we’re going to watch the Lions lose,” he mumbled, causing most of the room to snort and snicker, particularly the older crowd. 

Rey was too busy taking in her surroundings, trying to recognize every face now that she was allowed a moment to reflect, to notice that Ben had slipped to the back of the room. It felt like from the moment she arrived at her boss’s house, she’d had her attentions grabbed by one person or another. 

She had to admit that she was enjoying watching everyone in the room. Luke Skywalker was busy talking to the man who had ruffled her old teacher’s hair so fondly while Han started taking bets from others in the room having to do with the two football games played that day. 

“Hey, Rey,” Finn pulled her out of her daydreaming. “Why is Ben Solo just staring at you?”

Rey looked around to find him. He was standing in a corner by a giant bookcase with glass doors propped open, trying to look like he was pawing through a rather old volume of something that had only remnants of gold leaf lettering. Ben looked down as soon as Rey caught him and she swore she caught a small blush creep upon his cheeks. “Probably because he was my criticism professor last year,” she admitted quietly, knowing Finn would keep the information to himself until later after he and Poe returned to the apartment they shared. 

She could see Finn’s mind make the connection, “Wait, that’s…” he trailed off and eyes bugging out knowing only of her multiple breakdowns via midnight phone calls as she tried to write multiple papers each week. “Wow. That’s quite a coincidence.” Rey nodded in agreement. “What are you going to do?”

“Why would I do anything?” she countered. 

Finn shrugged and his attention was called away by Poe and one of the Tico sisters arguing about Lord of the Rings. 

Rey found herself paying attention to the football game for the next hour or so, unlike everyone else in the room who took the time to catch up with one another. She wasn’t bored, though. She was also watching everyone interact with one another, enjoying how familiar everyone was with one another, even Finn who had joined the fray only a year and a half ago. 

Leia busied herself, dragging random people from the room to help her prepare certain parts of the meal. Everyone except for Ben, Rey, and Han had taken their turns, dicing and mixing and shaping different ingredients for the smorgasbord they were going to dig into in a few hours. Rey had guessed because they had already done their chore by making the stuffing and preparing the bird. 

At one point, after he returned from the kitchen, Poe suggested a rousing game of Monopoly, making half of the room groan in protest. Rey offered to play, claiming the thimble as her token. Finn, Rose, Kaydel, and Chewie joined in, setting the game up on the coffee table. At this point, Rey lost track of where her old professor was. She was too into the game to notice he had slipped out of the room. 

Hours passed and Poe was supposedly beating everyone by owning all four railroads and utilities. That is until Kaydel bought two houses for each of her yellow properties and four for Baltic and Mediterranean Aves after trading with Finn and Rey respectively. 

“Dinner’s almost ready,” called Leia’s voice from the hallway as she carried a couple of dishes to the table. 

At that, the group counted their cash and properties, and Rose was the clear winner somehow. No one really knew how she ended up with so much money when she only owned a few properties. Once the game was cleaned up and Poe made to put it back where he found it, the rest of the group made their way towards the dining room, a few stopping off to use one of the restrooms before sitting down for their glorious meal. 

Rey trailed behind everyone, moving the slowest out of everyone, continuing to take in the beauty of the house.

“Is that-?” Rey started as she realized one of the photos on the mantle. It was of a young boy, thirteen, maybe fifteen if he hit puberty late. His hair cut in a way that resembled Patrick Stump’s from the early 2000s, his ears sticking straight out, paperwhite under the jet black hair. “Is that Professor Solo?” she asked in awe. 

“You know, Rey,” Leia smirked almost evilly, being the last to make her way into the dining room. “If you think that’s adorable, I have some great baby pho-”

“Absolutely not.”

Ben had come down from the winding staircase by the kitchen door suddenly. 

“But, Benny, you look so cute with all those little chubby rolls,” his mother gave him the most convincing set of puppy dog eyes Rey had ever experienced. No wonder she was such an amazing businesswoman. “I swear, it was the only time he’s ever had body fat on him and it lasted maybe three months.”

“Mother,” Ben yelped, a hint of begging in his voice. 

Leia finally conceded, “Alright, alright. Next time,” she whispered the last part to Rey only, making the younger woman giggle. “Now, let’s go eat!” 

Ben ducked his head and shuffled in behind Rey. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered to her as covertly as possible, which was not very covert seeing as he had to bend down a bit to do so. “She never knows when to stop.”

“It’s fine,” Rey tried not to giggle at his embarrassment. “I thought it was sweet.” Ben groaned. “Besides, the guyliner was and still is kind of hot. You should try it again.”

Ben stopped in his tracks, eyes wide. He suddenly lost any sense of an appetite he previously had. 

**Author's Note:**

> I have chapter two about half-written. I'm hoping to have it up in the next couple of days!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
